Federal Court Strikes Down Energy Department FOIA Closure Policy

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has blocked a U.S. Department of Energy policy that would have permitted the agency to administratively close thousands of pending Freedom of Information Act requests.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment to government watchdog group American Oversight, vacating the Department of Energy directive under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court ruled that the agency exceeded the authority granted to it by Congress when it created a blanket requirement forcing members of the public to re-confirm their interest in older requests.

Under the challenged policy, which was published in the Federal Register, the Department of Energy announced that any FOIA request submitted before Oct. 1, 2024, would be closed unless the requester contacted the agency within 30 days to confirm they were still interested.

In its decision, the court held that the policy conflicted with FOIA, which mandates that federal agencies make non-exempt records promptly available to the public.

The court confirmed that American Oversight had legal standing to challenge the rule and rejected arguments from the government that FOIA allows agencies to impose extra procedural conditions due to backlogs or delayed processing times.

The court also dismissed an argument from the Department of Energy that the lawsuit was moot because the agency had agreed to keep processing American Oversight’s specific requests once the suit was filed. The ruling stated that agencies cannot avoid judicial review by temporarily halting a policy’s application to a plaintiff while maintaining its legal validity.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for transparency, accountability, and the public’s right to know,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “FOIA exists to ensure the public can access the truth, not to give agencies new ways to bury it. This case was never just about one agency or one requester. Had DOE’s policy been allowed to stand, it could have become a blueprint for agencies across the federal government to evade their obligations under FOIA by shifting unnecessary burdens onto requesters. Today’s decision sends a clear message: the responsibility for government transparency rests with the government, not the public.”

American Oversight initially filed the lawsuit alleging the policy violated statutory provisions by transferring the burden of administrative delay onto members of the public seeking government records.